“Orphans are, as you might imagine, deeply affected by the loss of their mother, responding much as we would expect grieving children to respond,” Wilson said. There is no question that chimp mothers and their offspring bond tightly, perhaps for similar reasons. “It’s likely a more costly mistake not to carry an ailing infant long enough (because) a sick baby might, after all, get better,” he said, “than to carry it for too long … after it’s dead or even mummified. In that context, the chimp mothers’ behavior could be seen as “adaptive,” Wilson said. That force can extend to care of the offspring at least until they are able to reproduce on their own. Reproduction is a powerful evolutionary force for survival of a species. There could be other explanations, Wilson said. Are these caring mothers expressing grief as we understand it? What remains in doubt is the question of what it means. “It’s fairly common for chimpanzees, as well as various other primates, including baboons and rhesus monkeys, to carry their infants long after they’ve died.” “I’ve spent much more of my time than I would like watching dead and dying chimpanzees, and the responses of mothers and others to them,” Wilson told MinnPost. Wilson was not part of the Oxford research team reporting these latest observations of chimp mothers. Wilson is one of several U of M scientists who have studied chimps extensively in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park, where primatologist Jane Goodall began documenting chimp behavior in the 1960s. Professor Michael Wilson of the University of Minnesota is among experts who caution us not to anthropomorphize about other species, not to project our own natures on them. Were these animals - our close evolutionary cousins - grieving in human fashion? That is the fascinating question raised by this report and one other in the same journal. ![]() A research team led by Dora Biro of Oxford University in England reports in Current Biology observing two other chimp mothers stubbornly carrying the remains of their lifeless offspring for up to 68 days - even while the bodies stank with decay and eventually mummified. She groomed the little body, cuddled it in her nests and objected to any separation from it. His first offspring was a son, Ajua, 9.There is no question that chimp mothers and their offspring bond tightly.ĭetails of the study are heart wrenching: A chimpanzee called Jire carried the corpse of her infant for some 27 days after the small chimp died in the forests surrounding Bossou, Guinea. Jane’s father, Imara, 22, has previously sired daughters Zuhura, 4, and Akira 6. Her sister Chiana, 24, was also born at the zoo. Zoo officials said that baby Jane and her mother, Abby, 35, are doing well and bonding behind the scenes at the chimpanzee habitat. Goodall’s important work and bring awareness to the conservation of chimpanzees in the wild and their well-being in human care.” “We cannot think of a better way to recognize Dr. Jane Goodall has been a passionate advocate for chimpanzees, and we are honored to name this little one after her on the auspicious occasion of the first World Chimpanzee Day,” said Scott Carter, chief life sciences officer for the Detroit Zoological Society, in a statement. ![]() World Chimpanzee Day recognizes the day in 1960 that Goodall first arrived in what is now Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to study chimpanzees, zoo officials said. Weighing 4 pounds, she was born shortly after midnight Saturday and named Jane, in honor of Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and anthropologist. A baby girl chimpanzee was born at the Detroit Zoo on World Chimpanzee Day over the weekend.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |